Cherry Hill Kids - Stephen (3rd from left), Mike (5th from left), Wendy (2nd from right)
school he attended. I think teachers are like parents – they are making it up as they go along. Once Michael was in a school play and, for some reason, I didn’t think it was important for me to be there. I was thinking of going shopping but decided against it and went to the play. Here’s some advice – never choose shopping over your child’s school play. When I got to the school things were pretty grim. No one in the audience, parents or students, was laughing when they should have been. The play was not going well. Then Michael walked out on the stage. He woke everyone up. He came out with a loud, jolly voice, in a cowboy hat, and he literally stole the show. Afterwards, mothers were stopping me to tell me how terrific he was. It was such a treat to see him on the stage that day and it would have been a shame to have missed it. One thing I regret from those days is that I didn’t have the strength to give each of the kids all the individual attention they needed. Frankie seemed to need constant attention and I was so busy with him I would often tell Michael to go see Mae, my helper, when he wanted something. It got to the point that he began to go to Mae first for the attention he need- ed. It was a mistake I tried to correct when I noticed the pattern.
BAD NEWS When we moved to Woodcrest Frank was almost eight years old, Michael was thirteen months younger, Stephen was a little over three years old, and Wendy was just six months old. It was time to take Frank to the dentist, probably for the first time, to have his teeth checked and cleaned. We had no idea we were in for some very bad news. Two weeks later the dentist called and said that Frank was missing a lot of second teeth, that he was born without them. We were told the condition called oligodontia was hereditary but it skipped every other child. So Frank had it but Michael didn’t, Stephen would have it but Wendy wouldn’t. Herman and I were devastated, we couldn’t stop crying. Our poor children were in for a very rough time. That was the beginning of years of research into the condition and the best ways to be helpful. As time passed and dental procedures and technol- ogy advanced it became possible to solve the prob- lem, if not cure the condition. When Frank was about sixteen we learned of a Dr. Linkow in New York City who practiced an innovative technique of implanting titanium spikes in the jaw to hold permanent replacement teeth. Today the procedure
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